That's a fabulous idea. You might enjoy the Substack called What An Adventure by Marlo Lehman. It's about when her and her husband moved to Costa Rica to run a remote hotel. Lots of fun to read 😁
So funny, Kristi! My Substack essay for this month is about the challenge of ordering a "simple cup of coffee" in Singapore the Singaporean way and how it came to embody everything I hoped to gain from my expat experience. Synchronicity!
I must admit that I have not needed to be out of the country to forget to use the microwave when my kettle died. This very thing happened in my own kitchen.
With a mind as small as mine, I hardly need to live in a remote location or foreign country in order to lose it. Luckily, being so small, it rarely gets far. Which is a good thing because, wherever I am in the world, I require coffee in the morning. Real, true, brewed coffee, preferably served by an expert barista. Instant is an abomination. You see how this could limit my adventuring ;-)
Hahaha I totally get the brewed coffee thing! ☕️ I need a GOOD cup as well and luckily even Jamaican instant is pretty decent if you get Blue Mountain aka the good stuff 😁 But nothing compares to a brew.
One day in Connecticut when the power was out due to a storm, I thought, "No big deal if I can't use the stove, I'll just plug the griddle in to cook breakfast." Then it dawned on me that my griddle was electric. We ended up cooking breakfast over a barbecue grill.
Funny what we don't realize we need electricity for hey? Once when I lost power I was like, "Oh, I'll just sit here and play candy crush on my computer," not realizing there's no internet without electricity 😁
Thanks @Kristi for the mention! I get it all, especially would do ANYTHING for coffee! (Costa Rican for me though please!) I laughed at the ice in a bucket and chipping it off. Since we owned the hotel, we used a lot of ice (think lots of cocktail-drinking guests!) and this would've have worked for us. Initially we bought bags of ice down at the grocery store-15 minutes away and carted up the mountain in our coolers. But do you know how much still melted?? Then we eventually leased an ice maker-very 1st world! haha. but the ice made such small cubes that in the tropical climate they'd melt in drinks in no time!
The thing I'd say about living abroad and 'giving up' the comforts of our previous life-you certainly learn very quickly how to be more resourceful! Pura Vida!
Hahaha yeah these ice "chips" were more like icebergs in a cup. They didn't melt all damn night at a bar, just one piece of ice lasted for the duration lol.
You know I would jump right into this article, I’m sure!! I was so excited to see it this morning my dear Kristi and I am laughing still as I type this! For the few years before I moved here, I began taking deep inventory of my life, my habits, and my needs simplifying all along the way as you know. Coffee was one of the things I decided I needed to let go of before I moved because I had no idea if I would have what was needed each day to make a cup of coffee (the Blue Mountain instant coffee is actually pretty good so I would occasionally buy it once I moved here but not on the regular).
I also had a super duh moment when I sat in my house after I got married deeply wanting a cup of real coffee. I was silently lamenting the fact that a coffee pot just wasn’t part of my minimalist lifestyle when it all of a sudden occurred to me that people made coffee long before coffee pots/maker existed. How in the hell did they do this? I wondered (omg such an American lol 😂) Boiling water on the damn stove, of course! To this day, this is exactly how I make my coffee every morning. In a freaking pot on the stove…duh! (I’ve never had a microwave here).
Oh and finding a lighter in a Jamaican kitchen or house for that matter…impossible in my likkle world, lol 😂 I always try and keep one by the stove and it’s actually stayed the past few days (notice I said DAYS…such a short time).
Living here has made me realize in so many ways how little self-reliance I had when I came here for simple yet super important basic things like starting a fire without a lighter (still can’t do that), using what you have available to you, and not always seeking answers to things in the form of convenience and ease.
OMG…when are you coming here so we can sit and reason and laugh for days and days???? 😂
Lmao I KNEW you'd relate!!! You're braver than I am though. The first time I moved down, into my first little apartment, I'll be damned if I didn't bring my own coffee maker from home 🤣 As if I couldn't just go buy one in Jamaica. Sometimes I have to laugh at myself.
In that first apartment I didn't have a toaster so I made toast in a frying pan over a gas flame. Let's not talk about how many slices of bread died a quick, burnt death and ended up in the garbage before I perfected open-flame toast 🤣🤣🤣
Hilarious! You're way more patient with coffee than I would have been. I'd have shaken it up in a water bottle and drank it cold. THEN I could start thinking about how to heat water for the next cup, LOL!
Ha ha, try Zambia. I plan to create a new publication about this African Adventure once I get my head around all the Substack Subtleties.
That's a fabulous idea. You might enjoy the Substack called What An Adventure by Marlo Lehman. It's about when her and her husband moved to Costa Rica to run a remote hotel. Lots of fun to read 😁
So funny, Kristi! My Substack essay for this month is about the challenge of ordering a "simple cup of coffee" in Singapore the Singaporean way and how it came to embody everything I hoped to gain from my expat experience. Synchronicity!
Now that sounds intriguing. We learn SO much about life and ourselves through travel, don't we?
Honestly, Kristi, I think we learn a bit about life and ourselves through a good cup of coffee too, don't you think?
We do!
I must admit that I have not needed to be out of the country to forget to use the microwave when my kettle died. This very thing happened in my own kitchen.
Sheesh!
I love the house, thanks for sharing the picture.
Bahahaha this made me laugh. You in a first-world kitchen forgetting how to use it 😁
Ah yes, the word Dumb-Ass comes to mind.
With a mind as small as mine, I hardly need to live in a remote location or foreign country in order to lose it. Luckily, being so small, it rarely gets far. Which is a good thing because, wherever I am in the world, I require coffee in the morning. Real, true, brewed coffee, preferably served by an expert barista. Instant is an abomination. You see how this could limit my adventuring ;-)
Hahaha I totally get the brewed coffee thing! ☕️ I need a GOOD cup as well and luckily even Jamaican instant is pretty decent if you get Blue Mountain aka the good stuff 😁 But nothing compares to a brew.
True, Blue Mountain is the s*it. Fair point.
What a breath of fresh air to read an article that is just entertaining - no selling, no teaching, no advice. Thank you!
Thanks for saying that Yvonne. I totally understand the overwhelm with advice and tips. I'm always happy to entertain!
I was right there with you, completely stumped. I didn’t think of the microwave either. I love your island stories.
Hahahaa! Thanks CK!
Adding to your embarrassment must have been the fact that Jamaica is the source of some of the best coffee in the world...
LOL yes....and that's why I wanted it so badly that morning hahaha!! Even the instant Blue Mountain is delicious!
I couldn't find a lighter once also. Looked and looked but my wife gave me a big box of kitchen matches. At least I did have matches.
Luckily I live in civilized Canada now and we have electric stoves lol.
One day in Connecticut when the power was out due to a storm, I thought, "No big deal if I can't use the stove, I'll just plug the griddle in to cook breakfast." Then it dawned on me that my griddle was electric. We ended up cooking breakfast over a barbecue grill.
Haha. I’ve done this!
Funny what we don't realize we need electricity for hey? Once when I lost power I was like, "Oh, I'll just sit here and play candy crush on my computer," not realizing there's no internet without electricity 😁
Thanks @Kristi for the mention! I get it all, especially would do ANYTHING for coffee! (Costa Rican for me though please!) I laughed at the ice in a bucket and chipping it off. Since we owned the hotel, we used a lot of ice (think lots of cocktail-drinking guests!) and this would've have worked for us. Initially we bought bags of ice down at the grocery store-15 minutes away and carted up the mountain in our coolers. But do you know how much still melted?? Then we eventually leased an ice maker-very 1st world! haha. but the ice made such small cubes that in the tropical climate they'd melt in drinks in no time!
The thing I'd say about living abroad and 'giving up' the comforts of our previous life-you certainly learn very quickly how to be more resourceful! Pura Vida!
Hahaha yeah these ice "chips" were more like icebergs in a cup. They didn't melt all damn night at a bar, just one piece of ice lasted for the duration lol.
Oh and thank you soooo much for the mention in this article! Good vibes from you as always 🫶
You know I would jump right into this article, I’m sure!! I was so excited to see it this morning my dear Kristi and I am laughing still as I type this! For the few years before I moved here, I began taking deep inventory of my life, my habits, and my needs simplifying all along the way as you know. Coffee was one of the things I decided I needed to let go of before I moved because I had no idea if I would have what was needed each day to make a cup of coffee (the Blue Mountain instant coffee is actually pretty good so I would occasionally buy it once I moved here but not on the regular).
I also had a super duh moment when I sat in my house after I got married deeply wanting a cup of real coffee. I was silently lamenting the fact that a coffee pot just wasn’t part of my minimalist lifestyle when it all of a sudden occurred to me that people made coffee long before coffee pots/maker existed. How in the hell did they do this? I wondered (omg such an American lol 😂) Boiling water on the damn stove, of course! To this day, this is exactly how I make my coffee every morning. In a freaking pot on the stove…duh! (I’ve never had a microwave here).
Oh and finding a lighter in a Jamaican kitchen or house for that matter…impossible in my likkle world, lol 😂 I always try and keep one by the stove and it’s actually stayed the past few days (notice I said DAYS…such a short time).
Living here has made me realize in so many ways how little self-reliance I had when I came here for simple yet super important basic things like starting a fire without a lighter (still can’t do that), using what you have available to you, and not always seeking answers to things in the form of convenience and ease.
OMG…when are you coming here so we can sit and reason and laugh for days and days???? 😂
Lmao I KNEW you'd relate!!! You're braver than I am though. The first time I moved down, into my first little apartment, I'll be damned if I didn't bring my own coffee maker from home 🤣 As if I couldn't just go buy one in Jamaica. Sometimes I have to laugh at myself.
In that first apartment I didn't have a toaster so I made toast in a frying pan over a gas flame. Let's not talk about how many slices of bread died a quick, burnt death and ended up in the garbage before I perfected open-flame toast 🤣🤣🤣
Hilarious! You're way more patient with coffee than I would have been. I'd have shaken it up in a water bottle and drank it cold. THEN I could start thinking about how to heat water for the next cup, LOL!
Lol!!!!! Now that also would never have crossed my mind 🤣 I was pissed that morning, tearing apart the kitchen drawers lol!
OMGosh, I laughed a bit harder at this than some others might. Because I would have done the exact same thing!
Hahaha so stupid right??!!